Call to Worship
Let’s start at the very beginning
Before the fall
Before the brokenness
Before
Let’s start at the very beginning
Of humankind
Created as One
To reflect the image of God
Male and Female
At the same time
Better together
To share the work equally
For relationship with God spiritually
Helpers of one another
Before the fall
Before the brokenness
Before
As followers of Jesus
Let women rise
As healers of sin
Let men rise
As equal partners
Let women
And men
Rise
The writer Bruce Feiler talks about taking his family to
Rome – so that his twin daughters could see great art and get some culture. It wasn’t
going well. Everyone’s feet hurt, he says. They were bored until they finally
arrived at the Sistine Chapel on the campus of the Vatican. He rallied one last
bit of excitement and said to his daughters, “Look up! I'm going to blow your
mind.”
And one of them looks up and sees Adam and God sailing across the
ceiling and says, “Where am I in that picture? There's no woman. Where is the
woman?,” she asked.
That’s a good question, her father admitted. “Where is
she?,” many of us have wondered - in our churches, workplaces, or places of
leadership? And even if we find her – why was she made? What was she to do? Is
she somehow less-than, subordinate, or inferior to men? The story of Genesis
has been at the heart of such questions and conversations about family
relationships and gender roles for almost 3,000 years. And we should be
celebrating the story but to do that – we need to look away from the painting
(as beautiful as it is), go back to the very beginning and remember the
original story, the origin story about the creation of men and women (Genesis
chapters 1-3). So as we start our series on Biblical equality, I’m encouraging
you to . . .
1. Remember rightly and read carefully
What I've learned as a pastor is that sometimes what's in
the original story is different from how we remember the story. So step one is
to go back and look at the story of Adam and Eve closely – even if you’re sure
that you know it. By the way, our series will have us digging into our Bibles a
lot and so I encourage you to bring yours with you – to mark it, underline it,
write in the margins, even inscribe your questions. From the outset you should
know two things: 1) I believe that everything is subject to the Word of God AND
2) when I’m inviting you to read the Bible carefully as a source of authority,
I’m inviting you to become a believer in Biblical equality because I believe
that a careful reading of the text presents just such a vision. But I’ve got to
give evidence myself – show that I am reading the text carefully and well. To
know that you will need to bring your own.
The first thing we discover when we go back to the beginning
is that there are two versions of the story, not one. And the second one is
more famous, right? It’s the version illustrated in the Sistine Chapel. That
one has a solitary Adam alone and lonely in need of a helper. He’s put to sleep
and then God performs surgery – extracting a supposed rib (it says simply
“side” in Hebrew) from his side to make a woman. That's the second story.
And that second story has been used by some to argue that men are to lead and be in authority over women because of a so-called “order of creation” – that Adam’s creation before Eve means that he occupies a superior leadership role. As one writer puts it: Genesis reveals “that the woman was made from the man (her equality) and for the man (her inequality). God did not make Adam and Eve from the ground at the same time and for one another without distinction. Neither did God make the woman first, and then the man from the woman for the woman. He could have created them in either of these ways so easily, but He didn’t. Why? Because, presumably, that would have obscured the very nature of manhood and womanhood that he intended to make clear.
And that second story has been used by some to argue that men are to lead and be in authority over women because of a so-called “order of creation” – that Adam’s creation before Eve means that he occupies a superior leadership role. As one writer puts it: Genesis reveals “that the woman was made from the man (her equality) and for the man (her inequality). God did not make Adam and Eve from the ground at the same time and for one another without distinction. Neither did God make the woman first, and then the man from the woman for the woman. He could have created them in either of these ways so easily, but He didn’t. Why? Because, presumably, that would have obscured the very nature of manhood and womanhood that he intended to make clear.
According to this author, God intentionally created Adam
before Eve and from different stuff in order to make it clear that Adam was to
be the leader in the relationship, while Eve was to be a subordinate helper.
Is that right? Is that what the text says? Short answer –
“no.” In fact, I will argue that he pretty much got every point wrong for the
very simple reason that he didn’t start at the very beginning. He didn’t remember
rightly or read carefully. I want to press the point a little – he doesn’t fail
because his view could be labeled “old-fashioned” or even “traditional.” And by
extension, I’m not making a contemporary cultural argument. He failed because
the Bible says something else.
2. Genesis 1-3 teaches that women and men are to be equal
partners, in every way
26 Then God said, “Let us make adam in our image, in our likeness, so
that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the
livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that
move along the ground.”
27 So God created adam in his own image, in the image
of God he created them; male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them,
“Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over
the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature
that moves on the ground.” ~ Genesis 1:26-28
In the first account of creation (1:26-28), both sexes are referred to as adam (literally “humankind”), both sexes are created at the same time, both together reflect the image of God, and both receive the same job description without any differentiation of roles. There’s no “men hunt” and “women cook,” for example. They are equal in value, equal in function, and equal spiritually. So the first creation account challenges the heart of our author’s hierarchical argument that “God did not make Adam and Eve from the ground at the same time and for one another without distinction.” God did. In Genesis 1 they were made at the same time and without distinction. Furthermore, if one wanted to argue that there is an order of creation that sets a hierarchical pattern then one would have to concede that the very first mention of male and female in Genesis 1 never mentions any order at all or inherent subordination.
Now we come to the second account. Does it read differently
in light of the first? Is it contradicting God’s original design for male and
female relationships as expressed in Genesis 1? We must read carefully.
First, it is true that we have a solitary adam in
Genesis 2 but rather than a point of authority or leadership the text says that
the solitary adam is considered “not good” (2:18). Why? Good question. Vs.
18 says because he is “alone” but why would that be bad? When coupled with the
first story, it seems straightforward to discern that a solitary adam
cannot function as the image of God nor fulfill the roles assigned. Both sexes
are needed for adam to be adam in the first place, for it is corporate adam
that bears the image of God. God is best imagined, in other words, as a
community. Both sexes in equal relationship to one another is necessary to
reflect who God is.
Second, some readers seek to make a hierarchical argument by
pointing to the word “helper” in 2:18 as somehow being subordinate and
diminutive. Does “helper” imply subordination? The Hebrew here for “suitable
helper” is ezer kenegdo. Ezer (help or helper) is never used in
the Old Testament to refer to an inferior or subordinate. In fact, it is often
a word directly associated with God: “Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like
you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and ezer and your
glorious sword” (Deuteronomy 33:29; see also Ps. 10:14; 30:10; 70:5; 72:12;
121:2). Furthermore, kenegdo means “corresponding to” or “face to face”
implying a mutuality rather than less than. Eve is a fitting partner for Adam
because, unlike the animals, she was like him. She corresponded to him, was
bone of his bone, was “one flesh” with him not “lesser flesh”. Understood
rightly such a helper is not a weaker person but a strong one because another
is in need. The solitary adam needs a strong partner BECAUSE he needed help.
That’s why woman was created.
Third, if adam’s supposed superiority is reflected in the
second account because he is both created before Eve and because Eve comes from
his body then by extension, wouldn’t that mean the plants and animals are
superior to adam because they were first and that the earth has authority over him
because he comes from it? That understanding, however, makes no sense of the
first story in which they both rule over all creation.
Finally, at no point in the account so far does God give the
man authority or
3. Recognize Sin and fight for equality in this redemptive
moment
Genesis 3 shows that sin alienates people from God and each
other. What was once a perfect image of God’s likeness through mutuality and
equality is now marred with the pain of sin, causing unity to become separation
and peace to be traded for shame and blame. It is here that we discover the
first mention of a gender hierarchy but it happens as a result of the wreckage
of sin.
So Genesis 3 must not be read as an endorsement for God’s
purpose for humankind, because lopsided gendered relationships were never part
of the original design. Rather, it is the pronouncement of consequences: essentially
all relationships are distorted from God’s original design (between men and
women, a person and himself/herself, a person and God, and a person and all of
creation).
As Christians, we must not willingly accept this broken
system as the norm but strive continually for the original and divine intent: a
world of shared authority, a world reshaped into God’s likeness. Otherwise we
should join the Fundamentalists who argued that epidural injections for women
giving birth were anti-Biblical because women should have pain during
childbirth because that’s what God wants. They were wrongly making prescriptive
what was descriptive. What happens post-fall is not the world God wants us to
live in, desires for us to adopt; rather, it is a broken world that God wishes
to heal.
As Christians we are to announce and live into God’s
salvation, to invite others into this important redemptive moment, and to heal
that which sin has harmed! So I want to invite you this morning to be a redemptive
fighter for Biblical equality. I want to invite you to act redemptively for
better relationships between the sexes. I want you, in other words, to be a
Biblical feminist. Biblical feminism is not some scary plot to harm men or
subvert Biblical values. It’s nothing more than going back to the very
beginning of proper male and female relationships – to a belief and practice
that men and women are equal in every way and made to help one another.
What does it mean for us to be Biblical feminist, to live as
men and women in this redemptive moment?
- Don’t be afraid of a word – reclaim it. I know that adopting the word “feminism” or “feminist” is for many the equivalent of an f-bomb dropped in church but its roots are historically Christian. The first feminists were strong Christian women committed to fighting alcoholism, for equal voting rights, and against slavery. That doesn’t mean that you have to accept everything that calls itself feminism in the same way that you wouldn’t accept everything that some might call Christian. Nevertheless, I like the point of John Stackhouse, “Christian feminists can celebrate any sort of feminism that brings more justice and human flourishing to the world, no matter who is bringing it, since we recognize the hand of God in all that is good.”
- Recognize sin and name it – when you hear a sexist joke – speak up! When a woman is attacked or disqualified based upon her sex – call it out! When a woman mentions being assaulted or abused – believe her and help! An unequal relationship between the sexes which leads to exploitation and abuse is the very curse of sin. We will never be able to live into our properly redeemed relationships if we remain silent.
- Men, we must stop “lording” over women and start listening. Start believing that what God wants in all relationships are partnerships of mutuality rather than roles based on power. We must ask women to share their stories, their hopes, their pains, and let them be what God intended from the very beginning – equal leaders over all of creation.
We started this sermon with the Feiler sisters asking where
Eve was. When we return to the story, we discover that as they searched the
picture, they finally found her. Eve was in the arms of God.
May all women find
themselves in a similar place – for healing, for empowerment, and for love. May
they find themselves as a partner at Adam’s side. Let’s start at the very beginning . . .
Confession of Sin:
Inequality, poverty, and abuse against women remain at horrifying levles. Let us confess these corporate sins and pray for the healing of our world. After each statement the congregation should respond, "Lord, have mercy. Hear our prayer."
The World Health Organization estimates that globally one
woman in five will be the victim of sexual assault in her life time.
Lord, have mercy. Hear our prayer.
In the United States, the cost of domestic violence is
estimated to be 67 Billion dollars each year.
Lord, have mercy. Hear our prayer.
The United Nations estimates that 60 percent of chronically
hungry people are women and girls.
Lord, have mercy. Hear our prayer.
Women make up more than two-thirds of the world's 796
million illiterate people.
Lord, have mercy. Hear our prayer.
Globally, women aged between fifteen and forty-four are more
likely to be injured or die as a result of male violence than through cancer,
traffic accidents, malaria, and war combined.
Lord, have mercy. Hear our prayer.
Lord – may Eden be redeemed, and women and men walk hand in
hand into a redemption of equality, forgiveness and love.
1 comment:
Thank you!
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